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remembrance day – justice and mercy

Living in a country that is at peace, it’s not part of my everyday to think about war, about mass violence, unrest and fear. Though my country is at peace, there are many fine men and women who have sacrificed themselves in many ways for the security of my country, and to bring hope to others who are not as fortunate as Canada is. Countries where bombings, shootings and landmines are a very real reality.

The effect of the Canadian Forces on my life is both direct and distant. I am free because they work hard to promote peace. I am free because people from my country and others have died in working to create peace globally. It isn’t fair, but it’s what has happened in the past, and what is still happening. It is because of the Canadian Forces that I did not grow up exposed to warfare and violence.

So today, I think. I think about what people I have never met have done for me, my community, and my country, to allow me to experience this peace. I think about those who survived going to war; those who came back changed forever, their families changed, by their experiences. I think about their families and friends, who have seen first-hand the transformation take place.

I think about those who made the ultimate sacrifice – who left everything they had here, left their families and friends, to fight, and died in battle. I think of and pray for their friends and families, who live every day knowing that their loved one died fighting against injustice. But who miss and love them deeply.

And I think of the men and women who are serving now, near and abroad, and the things they are doing every day to restore peace and justice in a broken world. And I know that we cannot forget the sacrifices that have been made by all of these people. I pray for restoration, for healing, for hope. And we remember.

we can’t be oblivious / we are not ignorant / blood in our hearts / blood on our hands / we’re human, we reason / we’re breathing, protecting / the living and dying / surviving, we’re trying / to breathe in safety, come home safely

mercy screams its violent love / justice and mercy / the depth of us created for / justice and mercy / this is where they kiss

with a life on the line / the fire / that consumes or refines / the finer / to ascend or decline / to retreat or to climb / out of sight out of mind / till attacked from behind / will this fire . . . consume or refine?

justice and mercy, flyleaf

This year and last, have clung to this song which was written by Flyleaf with the American military in mind. Clung to the hope that those who have fought, and lived or died, will never be forgotten for what they have done, and what they continue to do.